*sigh*

playa hatas.

I'd never heard of her until she started showing up on all our food packaging. Now when you open our pantry, you get this fly-eye view of dozens of little smiling Rachel Rays. It's startling.

I know. I saw her on several different brands of crackers at the Key Food yesterday.

My whole Rachel crush is kind of odd, come to think of it. She's very pretty and all but she's not my usual 'type.' But I was watching Food Network and her $40 a Day show was on, and I just found myself smitten. She's really perky, but it's genuine perkiness or at least it seems that way to me. I guess I have a weird wholesome streak. Using surliness as some kind of proof of 'authenticity,' is as silly as demanding everything be non-stop happy time. Or something.

The best part of the Rachel on Crackers aisle is that it's the same picture on each box, but they photoshop different things into her hand. Mr. r and I had each other doubled over with laughter one day at the supermarket trying to outdo each other with disgusting marketing ideas for that picture.

My father's take on Rachel Ray: "It's like she's got a stick up her ass, and she likes it." My aunt nearly fell out of her chair with shock.

Yet eerily accurate.
It's the catchphrases that get me most, but i find myself fleeing her in the oddest places.

My father's take on Rachel Ray: "It's like she's got a stick up her ass, and she likes it." My aunt nearly fell out of her chair with shock.

OMG! I just sent the cats flying. Thanks for a very good laugh, mischief!

I'm ambivalent to the Rachel Ray phenom. We don't get much of her up here.

As long as the stick has been marinated in some EVOO and Balsamic!

I like Rachel Ray but she's pushing the limits of in-yer-face-itude. I counted her on the cover of something like seven magazines a few weeks ago.

But she does have a great smile and a wholesomeness to her. But she's running at an 11 right now and I need her at about a 6.

Whether you're a fan of Rachael Ray or not, she's become a trusted brand of numbing mass consumption

I hate - HATE - this type of snarky I'm-better-than-other-people-because-the-brands-I-like-are-cooler-than-the-brands-they-like elitism, especially because it's often coming from a very classist mindset. About the worst thing I can say about Rachael Ray is that she says "EVOO Extra Virgin Olive Oil;" either the acronym is a generally known one and it doesn't need the explanation on the end, or it's not, and you might just as well skip the acronym entirely.

playa hatas.

It took me a while to figure that out -- I kept reading it as "ply-ya haataas." Darn those Spanish classes.

Playa hatas.

That woman has the cutest buns on television, stick or no stick.

Bathe her and bring her to me SO THAT I MAY DEEP FRY HER IN EVOO AND FEED HER TO THE BATS.